lobbyist

noun

lob·​by·​ist ˈlä-bē-ist 

plural lobbyists

: one who conducts activities aimed at influencing or swaying public officials and especially members of a legislative body on legislation : a person engaged in lobbying public officials

The new rule says that if you were a registered lobbyist in the past two years, you can't work for the administration on any issue you touched. After you leave government, you can't lobby the administration at all.

—Jacob Weisberg

Because so many lobbyists have past experience on Capitol Hill, they usually have personal ties both to members of congress and to their key staffers, who vet and prioritize the earmark requests.

—Ken Silverstein

Examples of lobbyist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In 2008, a law proposed by then-senator Anthony Sykes, who now serves as public access counselor in the office of the Attorney General, would have mandated disclosure of lobbyist requests. —J.c. Hallman, Oklahoman, 3 Feb. 2026

So far, Becerra’s former chief of staff Sean McCluskie and Sacramento lobbyist Greg Campbell have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud. —Susan Shelley, Oc Register, 1 Feb. 2026

To help fill their coffers even more, the lobbyists deceitfully expanded the definition of those notch years to include everyone born through 1926. —Tom Margenau, Dallas Morning News, 1 Feb. 2026

Other guests included medical executives and a lobbyist, which looked bad, and the restaurant was one of California’s most rarefied, the French Laundry, playing into Newsom’s reputation as a rule-bending swell. —Nathan Heller, New Yorker, 1 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1842, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for lobbyist

• hobbyist